Hedge funder fumes as Argentina threatens default

A federal court judge has refused to rebuke Argentina over its apparent willingness to default.

A recently leaked memo showed that the South American country is considering defaulting on all of the debt it owes to bond holders—including Paul Singer's hedge fund firm Elliott Management—should the U.S. Supreme Court refuse to hear an appeal to a previous order to pay its financial commitments.

Lawyers for Elliott called the memo a "smoking gun," according to The New York Post, and asked judge Thomas Griesa to scold Argentina. But Griesa—the same jurist who has ordered Argentina to pay up—said the memo was a privileged document between Argentina and its lawyers at Cleary Gottlieb.

A spokesman for Elliott did not immediately respond to a request for comment.